CCA decides to celebrate Diamond Jubilee in 2017

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

First Preference:
Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)
Second Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
28 July 2016

13CCA decides to celebrate Diamond Jubilee in 2017

The executive committee of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), which met in Medan, Indonesia from 18 to 22 July, decided to celebrate its Diamond Jubilee in October 2017 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of CCA.

CCA was founded in Prapat, Indonesia in 1957 at an Asian church leaders’ consultation.

Asia Mission Conference-2017

The executive committee has also decided to hold the Asia Mission Conference (AMC) in conjunction with the 60th anniversary. A preparatory workshop to develop the theme and subthemes of AMC, with the participation of the members of the Working Group on Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology together with selected Asian theologians and missiologists, will meet in September.

Programmes and Activities

The executive committee received a report of programmes and activities of CCA since the last meeting. Rev. Kim Kyrie, chairperson of the programme committee, reported that, during the past 9 months from October 2015 to July 2016, CCA organised 26 programmes in 10 Asian countries and all those programmes were conducted in collaboration with CCA member churches or national councils of churches in respective countries.

“The new strategic plan for 2016- 2020 largely reflects the vision that CCA has for shaping a new ecumenical paradigm in Asia together with member churches and councils”, said the Chairperson of the programme committee.

“The issues and themes covered through the programmes include ecumenical leadership formation to nurture grassroots ecumenism, gender justice, human trafficking, peace building, youth and women’s leadership development, Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS), Asian Women Doing Theology, eco-justice and climate change, advocacy at the U.N, peace and reconciliation in Korean peninsula, building up sustainability in HIV and AIDS competent churches and communities, as well as several other public issue responses as part of prophetic diakonia and advocacy initiatives, ” added Rev. Kim Kyrie.

Finance and Income Generation

The newly constituted Finance Committee of CCA has presented various reports and recommendations to develop new finance policies and guidelines for membership contributions as well as income generation strategies within Asia, which will ensure more sense of ownership by member churches and councils.

The Treasurer of CCA, Augustine Dipak Karmakar, in his report, told the executive committee that CCA’s future financial sustainability will depend upon member churches’ and councils’ increased level of contributions in future as well as the hosting of more programmes with locally generated income. He also reported that in 2015, the Asian churches’ contributions have increased to 29 per cent and that this was mainly due to the generous support of CCA member churches who came forward to host CCA programmes and activities during the past year, including generating and supporting substantial contributions by member churches in Indonesia to host the 14th General Assembly and pre-assembly events of CCA.

The executive committee approved a budget for 2017 with provisions for new staff appointments and decentralised working arrangements.